Letter from Exmoor: Experiencing Exmoor Zoo Through a Lens

Not much more than a year into its life, the West of Exmoor Camera Club finally got around to its first field trip to Exmoor Zoo. I feel it won’t be the last.

After dreary, light-free shoots at Lynton and Arlington Court earlier in the year, the sun finally came out of hiding briefly above the wildlife haven that is the Exmoor Zoological Park. Its a bijou zoo, small but perfectly formed, with large pond (or small lake depending on how well travelled you are) in the middle, with a wonderful selection of wildfowl, ranging from Mandarin Ducks through penguins to Pelicans and all shades between, swimming on it, and crashing into it. The photographic opportunities were endless, with good viewing areas and obligingly nonchalant avians.

We also found Big cats, many monkeys, wonderful wolves and something that made an incredible racket, but was never quite identified. There were seemingly dozens of enclosures, and mums and dads with progeny present, were having a great time. The animals were well cared for and unstressed and I liked that. Some were only too happy to pose, whilst a surly minority were a bit sniffy and disdained the hapless photographer, brazenly displaying the wrong end to us. Can’t say I blame them.

We came away with some great images having enjoyed the day, the coffee and cake and the refreshingly positive attitude of any zoo staff that we encountered. Even the Zoo loos were up to scratch.

Pictures from the day can be seen online on our club website at www.westexmoorcameraclub.weebly.com and anyone reading this that is desperate to see more of our handiwork on paper as it were, can do so throughout the stairwells, top to bottom, of the North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple from:- (Thursday 22nd March – 30th June 2013 ). Go on, you know you want to….